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COVID-19 Updates for Fall 2022

August 10 2022

Dear members of the SLU community,

We are eager to welcome you to campus later this month.

Your health and well-being — and that of other University community members — continue to be a central priority. The studentwell-being task force has recently updated you ontheir final recommendations, some of whichare already in motion.

The University’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts are part of our plans to support the health and well-being of all Billikens.

This email provides an overview of our COVID-19 safeguards for the fall semester.

Contents of this email include:

SLU’s approach to managing COVID-19

As a community, we are adjusting to living with the new strains of COVID-19. This fall, our approach to managing COVID-19 seeks to minimize disruptions to our everyday lives, as we take necessary steps to suppress widespread outbreaks on campus, reduce the risk of severe disease, and protect the vulnerable members of our community.

Almost all aspects of campus life have returned to pre-pandemic conditions. We will not be limiting capacity at events, requiring proof of vaccination for campus visitors, implementing physical distancing in our campus spaces, nor restricting university-sponsored travel.

Our layered approach to COVID-19 suppression is described in the remainder of this email.

Required vaccination

As President Pestello said in hisJune 22 message,all employees and students who will be physically present on SLU’s St. Louis campuses this fall semester must have received the primary COVID-19 vaccination series.

COVID-19 testing

SLU will not be requiring asymptomatic surveillance testing of our residential students when they return to campus this month. However, all students are expected to obtain a COVID-19 test prior to moving into an on-campus residence. You will not be required to submit proof of your test results. We are doing this on the honor system.

We will not be conducting any ongoing surveillance testing at this time. If local or campus conditions warrant, we may implement some limited asymptomatic testing for specific periods in the future.

If you develop COVID-like symptoms

All community members should take the following steps ifyou developCOVID-like symptoms:

Contact tracing

It is essential that all members of the SLU community participate in contact tracing processes. This helps us to identify and contain potential campus transmission and disease outbreaks.

You may be notified either by phone or email by our contact tracing team that you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. You are required to respond within 12 hours and to follow their instructions.

Quarantine will be required for unvaccinated persons in some circumstances. Your contact tracer will let you know if this applies to your situation.

Recent COVID-19 infection

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days, please emailcontacttracing@health.slu.edu. Youmust include proof of your positive test result if you have it.

We will enter the information in our contact tracing database. This may exempt you from required testing and will streamline the contact tracing process if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Support & isolation for students infected with COVID-19

Students who test positive for COVID-19 mustcontactStudent Healthat 314-977-2323, and they will receive further instruction and support.

Support & isolation for employees infected with COVID-19

Employees who test positive for COVID-19 must emailcontacttracing@health.slu.eduor call 314-977-7580.

Face masks & care for vulnerable community members

Face masks are only required in healthcare or clinical settings where patient encounters are likely.

Face masks are optional in all other campus settings, with the expectation that we will live our Jesuit values as we interact with one another. There are members of our community who are vulnerable to severe COVID-19 infection, or who live with or are caring for vulnerable loved ones.

As a community, we have a shared expectation that we will show care for the well-being of others by putting on a face mask when we interact with someone who is wearing a face mask. This means:

KN95 respirators are available

We will also continue to show care for members of vulnerable groups by providing high-quality respirators to those who request them.

Future updates and potential actions

If you have COVID-19-related questions, please emailpandemic@slu.edu.

We will keep you posted with timely updates and reminders. You can expect that we will make occasional adjustments to our COVID management strategies based on changing circumstances and the latest consensus science. It is possible that we could introduce additional COVID-mitigation practices (e.g., a temporary requirement to wear masks in certain settings) if we encounter an increase in cases on campus or a new virus variant.

Whatever may arise, we can be sure of this: We have a robust toolkit of evidence-based practices, a highly successful record of managing COVID on campus, and a compassionate community that cares for one another.

I look forward to seeing you soon, and I’m excited for the year ahead.

Stay safe and be well.

Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC
Special Assistant to the President
Director, Institute for Biosecurity
Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College for Public Health and Social Justice